Baby cichlids have a flat nose

[FishNewbie82912]

So my peacock cichlids are growing but some have like flat faces. I attached pictures. Just wondering why. Thanks!

 

[Colin_T]

deformed from inbreeding. kill the young with the deformity and try to find unrelated adults to breed with your current adults.

 

[FishNewbie82912]

deformed from inbreeding. kill the young with the deformity and try to find unrelated adults to breed with your current adults.

Kill them??? I can’t kill little babies. I can’t even kill my fish when I know they’re sick and won’t prevail. Ugh this is awful.

 

[Wills]

Kill them??? I can’t kill little babies. I can’t even kill my fish when I know they’re sick and won’t prevail. Ugh this is awful.

Colin has put it quite bluntly but he is right unfortunately - these deformed fish (it can come from inbreeding but a bunch of other factors) wouldnt survive in the wild as they will have feeding problems and likely respiratory problems.

You don't have to cull them, but if you dont, you need to take the responsibility for them for their full lives as its not fair on anyone to pass them to others or stores as you can the healthy ones. Just remember that fish are born in their hundreds or thousands because so many of them dont make it past a very young age.

Wills

 

[FishNewbie82912]

Colin has put it quite bluntly but he is right unfortunately - these deformed fish (it can come from inbreeding but a bunch of other factors) wouldnt survive in the wild as they will have feeding problems and likely respiratory problems.

You don't have to cull them, but if you dont, you need to take the responsibility for them for their full lives as its not fair on anyone to pass them to others or stores as you can the healthy ones. Just remember that fish are born in their hundreds or thousands because so many of them dont make it past a very young age.

Wills

any suggestions how to humanely do this?

 

[Wills]

any suggestions how to humanely do this?

The most humane way is with clove oil - you can get it from most supermarkets or chemists, its used to help with tooth ache. It contains Eugenol which acts as an anaesthetic.

You need about 10-20 drops of clove oil per litre of water the fish are in, so put them in a separate bucket and measure how much water you add. Add the clove oil to some warm water in a separate container and mix it up - it goes cloudy white when its properly mixed in. Then you add it slowly to the bucket with the fish in and they will gradually fall asleep with the anaesthetic. Cover the container or bucket up for about an hour and they will have gone.

Once its done net them out and dispose of them how you usually would (in the bin or bury etc) and put the water down the loo. Really tough to do but best all round long term.

Wills